Big places with independent bus operators

[Charlie2555]

Does anyone know any big towns or cities where the major bus operator is an independent company? By this I really mean any large places with lots of bus services operated by a company which isn't First/Stagecoach/Arriva etc.

Many thanks

 

[MCR247]

Nottingham. The two biggest operators are Nottingham City Transport and Trent Barton. Arriva and first have no prescience in the city and stagecoach run 2 services into Nottingham IIRC

 

[robertclark125]

Berwick upon Tweed. Arriva does serve the town, but the main firm is Perrymans.

 

[edwin_m]

Edinburgh and Blackpool have independents as the main operators.

 

[Liam]

McGills in Paisley, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde. West Coast Motors basically everywhere between Campbeltown, Bute, Dunoon and Oban.

 

[martinsh]

Crewe - approx 50% D & G, 40% Arriva, with one route each by First, GHA and Bakers.

Congleton - mostly Bakers
Wrexham - lots of GHA
Preston - Prestonbus are owned by Rotala

 

[gswindale]

Reading with Reading Buses?
First and Arriva do operate some services into the town but these are more "regional" routes than local services.

 

[overthewater]

I wouldnt put Preston into this list, since stagecoach do operate around the two.

 

[High Dyke]

Grantham. The majority of town and other services are provided by Centrebus. Stagecoach only retain the No.1 service from Lincoln (and a short town circuit on the same route). These services were previously in the hands of MASS after Roadcar closed their Grantham depot.

Bourne: Not as large a settlement, but nearly all services operated by Delaine Buses.

 

[northwichcat]

Warrington: Council owned Warrington Borough Transport/Network Warrington

Not sure if you could count Leigh (which has many South Lancs Travel services) as a large town

 

[Mitch in Notts]

Many Lincolnshire Towns:

Stamford:
Centrebus (Kimes).
Mark Bland Travel
Delaine.

Boston:
Brylaine
Centrebus (kimes)
Stagcoach run from Skegness hourly on the 7.

Spalding:
Brylaine
Centrebus (Kimes)
Fowler
Norfolk Green
Shaws
Stagecoach run hourly from Peterborough.

 

[northwichcat]

Stamford:
Centrebus (Kimes).
Mark Bland Travel
Delaine.

I was questioning whether Leigh was large enough to qualify as a large town but if Stamford is included then it definitely is.

Maybe in that case we also need to include Buxton - mainly High Peak and Knutsford - mainly GHA Coaches.

 

[richw]

Cardiff bus? Although the big names are in Cardiff, Cardiff Bus has the largest number of services, and subsequently I would class as the major operator,


My list of operators shows the following cities still having major operations by council owned bus services:
Blackpool - Blackpool Transport, 175 vehicles (and 75 trams)
Cardiff - Cardiff Bus, 240 vehicles
City of Edinburgh, Lothian Buses, 690 vehicles
Halton, Halton Transport, 61 vehicles
Ipswich, Ipswich Buses, 71 vehicles
Newport, Newport Transport, 90 vehicles
Nottingham, Nottingham City Transport, 360 vehicles (17% owned by Transdev)
Reading, Reading Transport, 200 vehicles
Rossendale, Rossendale Transport, 100 vehicles
Swindon, Thamesdown Transport, 105 vehicles
Warrington, Warrington Borough Transport, 115 vehicles

 

[northwichcat]

My list of operators shows the following cities still having major operations by council owned bus services:

Halton, Halton Transport, 61 vehicles
Rossendale, Rossendale Transport, 100 vehicles

Rossendale is a actually borough in Lancashire with the largest town being Rawtenstall and Halton is actually a borough in Cheshire with the largest town being Runcorn.

 

[starrymarkb]

Newquay with Western Greyhound (and a couple of First routes from Truro)

 

[robertclark125]

Prestonbus isn't an independent, as it's owned by a medium sized group. However, head due south, to the town of leyland, and you've got Fishwicks.

 

[Eagle]

I think Coventry deserves a mention, with De Courcey being the second-largest operator (behind NX but ahead of Stagecoach).

Prestonbus isn't an independent, as it's owned by a medium sized group.

Specifically Rotala, who also own Diamond Buses (formerly known as Blue/Red/Black Diamond).

 

[TrainBoy98]

In Brighton you've got Brighton and Hove buses (not fully sure if theyre independent though). In Worthing we have Compass Bus. Whilst not the main operator, they operate about 30-35% of the services, keep starting and trialling more and even operate on behalf of the main operator (Stagecoach) because they don't have enough buses!

 

[transmanche]

In Brighton you've got Brighton and Hove buses (not fully sure if theyre independent though).

No, they're part of Go-Ahead.

 

[Eagle]

In Brighton you've got Brighton and Hove buses (not fully sure if theyre independent though).

Full subsidiary of Go-Ahead (one of the big bus operators) since 1993.

 

[Mugby]

The best of all has to be East Yorkshire Motor Services, a large operator run along traditional lines in exemplary fashion by an enthusiast owner in a tasteful yet modern livery, always well presented.

What more could you ask for!

 

[martinsh]

Crewe - approx 50% D & G, 40% Arriva, with one route each by First, GHA and Bakers.

Done a bit of counting and come up with the following figures for departures per hour from Crewe bus station Mon - Fri (approx cos not all routes have a regular pattern)

D & G 29
Arriva 14
First 4
Bakers 1.5
GHA 0.5

Population of Crewe is about 50,000 - more if you include Nantwich
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

The best of all has to be East Yorkshire Motor Services, a large operator run along traditional lines in exemplary fashion by an enthusiast owner in a tasteful yet modern livery, always well presented.

What more could you ask for!

a large town for them to be the dominant operator in !

 

[robertclark125]

Oban, served by Oban and District, itself part of the West Coast Motors empire.

 

[W-on-Sea]

A guess a rival to East Yorkshire in all the regards mentioned above would be Ensignbus, who are now by far the main operator in and around Grays Thurrock (and the whole of Thurrock in fact). Maybe a medium-sized rather than a large town, but a fairly substantial and populous built- up area none the less!

 

[martinsh]

Leominster - think only Lugg Valley Primrose nowadays, no First at all

Caernarfon - both Padarn and Express have more routes than Arriva

 

[W-on-Sea]

Also in Essex (but worlds away from the quality of Ensignbus): Harlow' s buses are provided by a mixture of independents (the exact companies involved has changed on a fairly regular basis more or less since deregulation). Arriva (or, rather: TGM' s Network Harlow) are possibly still just about the main operator, but much reduced from their prime, and there is a limited First service, but pretty much everything else is run by various local companies such as SM Coaches and Regal Busways, and numerous others.

 

[Mitch in Notts]

Oakham, in Rutland. Oh wait, the whole of the county of Rutland.

Centrebus (inc Kimes)
Delaine (at Ryhall).

 

[High Dyke]

In Brighton you've got Brighton and Hove buses (not fully sure if theyre independent though).

Not entirely these days.

It’s pleasing that seventy fives years later in 2010, the Company is still locally branded and, as then, is an autonomous subsidiary of a London based parent – the Go-Ahead Group – which, like Tilling, has transport interests in London and other parts of the UK.

http://history.buses.co.uk/history/cohistory/welcome.htm

 

[34D]

I don't think that EYMS count as an 'independent'. To me, the term means an operator that wasn't formed out of NBC/a municipal. Noting their heritage, I'd hesitate to include CentreBus.

Otley - most services are provided by independents TLC Travel and ConneXions Buses. First do serve there though (routes 33a, 965 and x84).

 

[Ivo]

Would King's Lynn be acceptable for this? I guess it is subject to how large a town must be to count, but most (if not all) services are operated by local independent Norfolk Green.

Newquay[/S} Half of Cornwall with Western Greyhound